Clarion Wins Karns City 6th Grade Basketball Tournament (03/03/14)

(By Kenn Staub)

A team of Clarion cagers took to the hardwood in East Brady on Saturday, March 1st, coming away with the Championship of the 2014 Karns City Gremlins 6th Grade Tournament. The Bobcats defeated the host team, as well as squads from A-C Valley and Moniteau to go undefeated in round robin play on their way to hoisting the 1st place hardware.

(Photos by Kenn Staub)
2014 Karns City Gremlins 6th Grade Tournament Champions: (font row, L-R) Ethan Burford, Lake Staub, Ben Murtha, Josh Craig (back row, L-R) Cal German, Nick Frederick, Tyler Schmader, Nate Datko, Skylar Rhoades

Clarion opened the tournament with a convincing 42-10 victory over Karns City. The Bobcats began the game by shutting out the Gremlins until the 7:45 mark of the first half. Nate Datko proved to be the Bobcat catalyst, scoring six of the Bobcats’ thirteen points in their opening run, with Nick Frederick adding three and Ben Murtha and Josh Craig contributing two apiece. After allowing the lone Karns City basket, Clarion’s defense again went into shut down mode and only permitted another two points for the remainder of the half. During the final 7:15, the Bobcat defense sparked the offense, as Clarion scored another eleven points, many off Gremlin turnovers, jumping to a 24-4 lead at the intermission.

The Bobcat scoring during their 11-2 pre-halftime run was fairly evenly distributed between Frederick (4 points), Tyler Schmader (4 points), and Cal German (3 points).

Clarion’s second half proved to be a continuation of the first, as the Bobcats dominated play during a 12-2 spree in the opening ten minutes. German led the way with 4 points, while Craig, Datko, and Lake Staub each added baskets and Skylar Rhoades and Murtha hit on free throws. The Gremlins managed four points to the Bobcats’ six, all by Schmader, during the final five minutes of the game to make the final score 42-10. Schmader led Clarion with 10 points against Karns City, followed by Datko with 8 and Frederick and German with 7 apiece. Also scoring for the Bobcats were Craig (4 points), Murtha (3 points), Staub (2 points), and Rhoades (1 point).

Nick Frederick drives to the hoop

The Bobcats continued to play strong in their second game of the tournament, defeating the A-C Valley Falcons 35-14.
Clarion kept A-C Valley bottled up until the 6:42 mark of the first half, scoring seven points in that time on a three point play by Datko and baskets by Craig and Frederick. After the Falcons notched their opening score Rhoades hit on a shot beyond the arch to launch a 12-4 Clarion run heading into the half, with Datko’s 5 points leading the way and staking the Bobcats to a 19-6 advantage.

The Bobcats built on their lead during the first five minutes of the second half, scoring nine points to the Falcons’ six to go ahead 28-12. Craig was responsible for five of the nine, with Rhoades and German each chipping in a basket. Clarion scored seven in the final ten minutes of the half, with four by German, while holding A-C Valley to a single basket to close out their 35-14 victory.

The Bobcats offensive attack was fairly evenly distributed against the Falcons, with Datko accounting for 8 points, Craig 7, and Frederick, Rhoades, and German 6 each. Schmader contributed 2 points.

Clarion clinched the tournament championship with a 34-23 win against the Moniteau Warriors in their third and final game. The Bobcats again dominated the opening ten minutes of play, taking a 10-3 lead on baskets by Ethan Burford, Schmader, Datko, Frederick, and two free throws from German.

Nate Datko plays defense

Moniteau weathered Clarion’s opening surge and came back with seven points of their own to make the score 13-8 heading into the final two minutes of the half. From this point on it was all Clarion as Craig connected on a trey and Schmader added two buckets to give the Bobcats a 19-10 lead.

Moniteau fought back to start the second half, scoring seven points in the process of making the score 22-17. The Bobcats would only allow six more Warriors points, while closing out the half with fourteen to set the final score.

Craig led Clarion’s final surge with 4 points (including his second 3-pointer of the game), with Murtha adding 3 and Frederick and Datko each contributing baskets. Schmader was Clarion’s leading scorer against Moniteau  with 10 points, followed by Craig with 7, Frederick with 5, and Datko with 4.  Murtha and German each had 3 points and Burford tallied 2.

Clarion Head Coach Keith Murtha described the game as a total team effort.  He was pleased that the boys finished the season on a high note and expressed pride in each of his players.

Josh Craig shoots a trey (it was good)

(Thanks to Kenn Staub for this article. Congratulations Guys!!!!)